Envoy Is No Stranger to the U.S. : Diplomacy: Costa Rica’s Gonzalo Facio is serving his third tour as ambassador to this country. He has been present at significant moments in history.

Ambassador Gonzalo Facio likes Washington. He keeps coming back again, and again, and again.

Facio does not so much present his credentials as renew them. He is in the unusual position of having served as ambassador to the United States three times, a record that diplomats say has rarely, if ever been matched.

To view the photographs hung by the dozens in Facio’s office at the Embassy of Costa Rica is to skim the history of the American presidency since World War II.

In one picture is Facio chuckling with Dwight D. Eisenhower; another is of John F. Kennedy in his Oval Office rocking chair; Facio shaking hands with a very young-looking Richard M. Nixon; in a huddle with Gerald R. Ford; beaming with George and Barbara Bush.

The story behind a photo of Facio with Harry S. Truman in Independence, Mo., began at a 1963 dinner party when Bess Truman refused to take her assigned seat next to Eisenhower. Facio, at Truman’s request, used his protocol skills and averted an unpleasant incident.

Facio first saw Washington in the summer of 1956. He is not being immodest when he notes that the date he presented his credentials to Eisenhower was one that went down in history. It was July 26, 1956, when Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and precipitated a crisis that led to war later that year.

Eisenhower was in the White House situation room when Facio arrived, and the first thing he wanted to know was what the weather was outside. “He had been in the basement for many hours,” said Facio.

In those days, there were far fewer diplomats in Washington--90 embassies, compared to some 150 today--and access to the President was easier. Facio and his wife were invited to a private dinner with the Eisenhowers, and the two couples met socially on various occasions during Facio’s four-year tour of duty. “Eisenhower was a delightful, courteous man,” said the 72-year-old envoy.

Although Costa Rica is comparable in size to Vermont and New Hampshire and has a population of fewer than 3 million, it is the oldest and most stable democracy in Central America and has served as a front guard for U.S. policy in the region.

A political appointee, Facio was recalled when his National Liberation Party lost the elections in 1960. The political winds blew his way again in 1962, when his party won, and he was sent back to Washington.

Facio then presented his credentials to John F. Kennedy, whom he describes as “a reserved man,” but served most of his term during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration.

“Johnson was the President I could talk to most easily,” said Facio, “but he sometimes got very rough.”

The envoy got a taste of Johnson’s “rough” side when he served on a panel investigating the 1964 crisis over the Panama Canal treaty.

After lengthy deliberations, Facio issued a statement for the panel saying the United States had agreed to negotiate a new canal treaty. About to face reporters, Facio received a call from an angry Johnson, demanding his presence at the White House.

“I wasn’t sure if this was a joke, but I decided not to risk it,” he said. Joking was the last thing on Johnson’s mind when Facio walked into his office.

“Damn you! Damn you!” Johnson shouted. He was angered by Facio’s use of the word “negotiate.” The United States had agreed to “discuss” Panama’s demands, not to negotiate, Johnson insisted.

Facio said he had thought the two words synonymous. “I learned an important lesson,” he said.